Appreciate the comments, however, if you read through... oh, I don't know... the first ten or so sentences of the grow journal, you'll notice the goal is one thing, and one thing only. To take a plant from seed to harvest. That's it. Not the best bud, not the biggest harvest, not the most amount of plants, or the even the healthiest looking plant around. I just want to say I was able to do it my first time 'round. When I started I knew what kind of soil I had, but I never really could get the grasp of what soil to use. It all made sense in my head, but then I'd go to the store and well... I'd be lost. Next time I grow, not only will it be a hydro grow, but if it is a soil grow, I'll be prepared. Money wasn't so much the issue by the time I bought the mylar. I first anticipated spending around $50 for this grow thinking, "hey, it's a weed. I'd have to be retarded not to at least be able to grow it. It may not be the best plant out there, but I don't really care, I just want to grow". Well, about $200 and a lot of stress later, I realize a few of my errors in judgment. Soil, should I ever choose to use it again, will be a higher priority next time. I'm not going to harm my plants (roots or otherwise) by sticking a coat hanger in the soil. It's not that I couldn't possibly hurt them, but I do know a little more about what I'm doing than I probably let on. I've grown plants before mind you, just never marijuana. A coat hanger in the soil is a very effective tool for aerating soil, you just have to be careful around where the root system may have found it's way too. There are no real benefits to starting your plants in a small pot versus a large one. Starting in a small pot just means that you have to transplant/stress your plant later. Think about this logically for just a sec... about how many gallons of soil would you say your typical outdoor marijuana plant (grown naturally without human help) starts out in? I'm not even going to wager a guess because I don't have enough time to write that many 0's! Sure, you get a nice root ball from starting in a small pot, but all you're really doing is confining your roots to grow up, down, around, and through themselves. That's just plain unnatural. I do have pictures that I just took today. I'm going to link them in the Day 25 post. Thanks for the input!
I'm only on my second grow, so I obviously don't have the personal experience to counter that, but I've read many things to the contrary. I read that the roots have a tendency to reach out and find the outer walls quickly, so in a larger pot the roots will head straight for the outer edges while leaving large pockets of soil in between. In a smaller pot, more of the soil would be utilized, before it needs to be transplanted into a larger pot. That's my understanding at least. You're right that an outdoor plant has plenty of soil to grow in, but I don't think it can entirely be compared to growing in a controlled, indoor evironnment with sterilized soil. The whole indoor growing thing is unnatural to begin with (artificial lights etc.).
Day 26 "Breath, Damn You!, Breath!": -Flushed 12 Gallon Pot -Aerated Soil with Hands Notes for Day 26: Since Caramon seems as though her growth is stunted from the fert burn I decided to flush her pot again. I read that you need to flush a pot with 3 gallons of water for every gallon the pot is, so last time I had not flushed it near enough. Hopefully this will get her going again. Raistlin's fert burn seems to be only on the first leaf set and doesn't seem to be spreading. I hope that things are going to start turning around soon. After having to aerate the soil with the coat hanger I decided to do a daily aeration of the soil with my hands. This will only allow for the top 6-8" to be properly aerated though, so I will have to occasionally aerate with the coat hanger still, but now I can stay farther away from the root system with it which means less chance of damaging them. Lessons Learned for Day 26: -To Flush a Pot Properly Use 3 Gallons of Water for Every Gallon of Pot and Pour in the Water as Fast as the Soil Can Absorb it. -Aerating By Hand Reduces the Risk of Damaging the Plants Root System
Day 29 "Growth Spurt": -Caramon Begins 7th Leaf Set -Caramon Shows Signs of Growth -Raistlin Shows Signs of Growth -Aerated Soil with Hands Notes for Day 29: I just returned from a camping trip with some friends and to my joyous surprise, Caramon and Raistlin have shown signs of growth again. Apparantly the second flush was a success. Leaf color on both plants are returning to normal. Plant matter that had already been damaged shows no improvement however. This is a huge step in the right direction that has lifted my spirits greatly. I only hope that this turn of events stays on track. Lessons Learned for Day 29: -None Here are some new pics Caramon, Enjoy:
Hey Omni, Nice grow journal. Very thorough. You might want to post a couple of those pics in the sick plant forum. I had some pretty bad fert burn on my first grow, and to be honest, those pics don't really look like fert burn. The yellowing on the leaves looks more like nitrogen deficiency. Course, as you know, I'm anything but an expert lol. Hopefully, if you put em in the sick plant forum, someone like Ganja will take a peak and give you a true expert opinion. Also, if you're having soil compacting issues, you might want to add some pearlite or even sand into the pot. Or else think about changing out the soil completely (had to do that three times with my first attempt before I got it right lol).
Yeah, the fert burn combined with a lockout in my soil from having my pH too high caused a nitrogen deficiency... and all of that lead to a stunt in her growth. So, technically, you're right, lol. Now I know why people push the soil thing so much. Things just snowballed into a giant mess. Fortunately, what you see in those pictures is a major improvement. The fert burn/nitro deficiency is only in the lower growth and is no longer spreading. The new leaves are staying a nice, healthy green and she's growing just as fast as she used to. After flushing the pot and starting with 1/2 strength nutes she's looking good again. I'm even starting to see some crystallization on the leaves (thought it was a salt build up at first, but there's no salt buildup on the soil). I don't really know if the leaves are supposed to crystallize now that I think about it... *scratches head*. Oh well, they look healthier now and are definitely taking a turn for the better. Thanks for the compliment on the journal and the concern for the girls. Hope you're having good luck on your grow! EDIT: You should also note that the lighting in the room makes each picture turn out different shades, with or without the grow lights on. All the mylar is just so damn reflective that sometimes even the greenest leaves look yellow in my pictures.
Awsome grow going, i find the names very very fitting have you though about topping or fimming? if you do only top or fim "camramon" you know so the raist plant grows firm and striaght while the other is gonna be bushy and large haha seems fitting too me but how ever dilluited be sure not to give raist any nutes and well on another note check out the books called "the death gate cycle" there great and by mr's weis. nice looking grow though
It would be very fitting, I agree. However, with the problems I've been having with both of these plants I think it best to just try and get them/keep them as healthy as I can and try some of the different "techniques" on another set of plants. I'm already set on growing more after I harvest these (I don't have room for separate veg/flower rooms at the moment so I can't really clone like I had originally wanted to). The only nutes Raist may be getting at the moment would be whatever gets stuck to the sides and bottom of my measuring cup that I use to water them with. Considering I mix it pretty thoroughly before watering Caramon and not at all before watering Raistlin I'm sure it's not enough to even be considering diluted nutes, so no problems there. I'll have to pick that book up some time, Margaret (sp?) Weiss is by far my favorite author in the Dragonlance Chronicles thus far. Thanks for the recommendation and for the kind words about my grow.